SXSW Interactive Panel Picker

Social Media As Serious Business: Are You Ready? With daily calls for more leads and engagement, more certainty, innovative social marketing tactics and "proven ROI," it’s no wonder marketers are anxious, some to the point of near paralysis. Yes, this is a scary and time for our industry, but it’s also exciting. And although we often look to start-ups and entrepreneurs for inspiration, we’re actually seeing leading brands — big

With daily calls for more leads and engagement, more certainty, innovative social marketing tactics and "proven ROI," it’s no wonder marketers are anxious, some to the point of near paralysis. Yes, this is a scary and time for our industry, but it’s also exciting. And although we often look to start-ups and entrepreneurs for inspiration, we’re actually seeing leading brands — big brands, to be specific — showing us the way forward. What do brands such as Kodak, Alaska Airlines, T-Mobile, Microsoft and Proctor & Gamble have in common? They are all transforming their approaches to online branding, digital measurement and creative execution. The stories of these big brand panelists are colored by five major changes: marketers are taking more risks, creating more relevant online experiences, regarding social media as serious business, connecting online behavior to purchase offline and ensuring that direct response and branding are complementary. This panel will weave stories from big brands into a "big brand theory," one that provides an evolutionary path for other brands — of any size. This evolution isn’t a slow one, however, and attendees will take home with them specific strategies and tactics to ensure their brand is soon counted among the fittest survivors of this digital age. In particular, the presentation will discuss how five fundamental changes, coupled with 2011 digital measurement approaches, can turn any brand into a big brand.

Stephen DiMarco from Compete will be the organizer for this presentation. Like this presentation? Give it a thumbs up!

About Karen Costa:As the Online Marketing Specialist at Compete, Karen Costa specializes in the day-to-day online marketing functions for Compete.com-paid search, email marketing, social media, affiliate, etc. Before Karen joined the Compete team she was an online marketing coordinator for Bliss Spa and then worked for a couple of start ups. Karen says, "I'm not sure what I want to be when I grow up!" Find Karen on Twitter as vanillabean45 or connect with her on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/karencosta